Biograph film winding apparatus



April 14, 1936-.

A. E. SHIRLOW El AL BIOGRAPH FILM WIN DING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g W W M m mm 4 1 w P ,1936. A. E. SHIRLOW EI'AL 2,037,601.

BIOGRAPH FILM WINDING APPARATUS I 2 She'ets-Sheet 2 I'IPX/l l/I/ Original Filed.- Feb. 14, 1933 Patented Apr. 14, 1936 BIOGRAPH FILM WINDING Albert Edward Shirlow, Caulfield, near Melbourne, Victoria, and Thomas Bartlett Mc- Diarmid, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Application February 14, 1933, Serial N0. 656,750. Renewed September 13, 1935. .In Australia March 3, 1932 '1 Claims. (01. 88-1811) This invention has reference to biograph film winding apparatus and has been devised to provi e mechanism whereby the title of a film is alw ys in advance of the story being told upon the screen, thereby preventing the necessity of rewinding the film in order to prepare it for a further screening as is necessary at the present time.

It will be appreciated that double wear is given the film during the operations between one screening and the next, which double wear reduces the normal useful life of the film by half, whereas of radial and conical elements such as resilient I with apparatus constructed and operating according to our invention only one winding is necessary.

The invention is particularly advantageous in continuous film displays such as are arranged in shows which have a predetermined program comprising a number of subjects and shown throughout day and night and in a selected order, sucl' order remaining constant at all sessions and in such a case the selected films may, if desired, be

joined together in the well-known manner, while the starting end of the first film will be joined to the finishing end of the said film, thereby obtaining positive continuity.

The apparatus to be described will be found equally advantageous in connection with films which are not endless for the reason that when the film has been run through the machine, the normal starting end is in the same position as before it was run through.

The object of this invention is to provide mechanism or apparatus for winding films during or after projection in such a manner that-the film is returned on the fiat to the inside of the film roll, which is positioned on a plurality of radially arranged and inclined rotating elements,- the constant speed of which causes the film to turn on its edge and gravitate down said elements, whereby the film convolutions move relatively to each other and are packed together on said elements on edge, whereby the-outer layer of film is always in a position to,pa ss out of the apparatus to form a film loop ready for projection.

Theinvention is characterized in that the'film' winding apparatus is provided with aplurality rollers, all of which are driven at the same speed, the spindles of said rollers being preferably inclined towards the centre of the film roll, whereby said rollers assume an inclined position withinv the apparatus.

As essential feature embodied in the invention consistsin disposing the conical rollers with the maximum diameter of the cone towards the centre of'a flanged disc, thus the minor diameter of the said rollers becomes adjacent the periphery of the said disc or the outer layer of film when in the apparatus. v

A further essential feature resides in that the radially arranged and. inclined conical rollers cause the film convolutions to move relative to one another in such a manner that they are packed, one againstthe other, as theyare fed back-into the mechanism to be described.

A further essential feature comprises the means of driving the'rollers synchronously at the same speed to effect the winding of the film'as hereinafter described.

In order'that. the invention may be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in. which:

Figure 1 is a view in plan of the film winder instructed inaccordance with our invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a central section of the film winder. I

According to this invention, and as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the apparatus for winding biograph or likefilms comprises a flanged disc 3 having a peripheral flange 4, the internal diameter of the flange depending upon the length of film to be accommodated.

The centre of the flanged disc is formed with an upraised annular ring 5, the circumference of which is provided with a plurality of spaced bearings ,6 adapted to support the inner ends of the spindles I of a series of radially arranged and conicalrollersrlg, and the spindles I arednclined towards the centre of the said disc 3 with the highest point thereof adjacent to the supporting flange 4 of the supporting disc 3.

The conical rollers 8 are preferably surfaced with a resilient or yielding material such as rubher, or they may be constructed wholly of such material. The conical rollers 8 are radially arranged as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 within the flanged disc 3 with the major diameter of the rollers at the inner and upper end thereof whereby the minor diameter of the said rollers is adjacent to the inside of the flange 4 oi the supporting disc 3, this end of the said rollers being the lowest point and-the inclination thereof is such that 5 the lowerfend or the rollers 8 extends to a position near the base of the flange 4 of the supporting disc 3,-suificient clearance being maintained to permit the free rotation of said rollers.

It is a feature of the invention that the rollers 10 8 are driven synchronously at the same speed and preferably by means or disposing a bevel gear ID on the upper and inner end of each spindle 1 of the conical rollers 8, said bevel gears l8 mesh-" ing with a. crown wheel ll supported in the cen- 18 tral annular ring 5 of the disc 3.

The vertical spindle l2 of the crown wheel lhis supported in'a bearing l3 within the annular ring 5 and at its lower end is fitted with a worm wheel l4 enclosed in a casing i5 fitted to the 80 underside of the base .of the flanged disc 8, said worm wheel being in engagement with .a worm driven from a prime mover, or in lieu thereof, any suitable means may be provided to drive the spindle ii of the worm in conjunction with the biograph machine.

4 As is clearly illustrated in Figure 3, the worm drive actuates the crown wheel Ii which simultaneously drives all the bevel pinions i0 attthe same time, and at the same speed as the bevel 80 pinions Ill are,of equivalent diameter.

Formed in the annular flange 4 of the supporting disc 3 is an angular slot l8 through which the outer layer of the film l9 passes to the gate of the projector (not shown) and adjacent to-said slot 85 and supported by'the annular flange 4 of the 2! is therefore driven in unison with the conical rollers 8. v

Disposed above the inner annular ring 5 of the flanged disc 8 is afurthe'rsprocket gate 28 to 59 guide and deliver the returned portion 88 of the film is into the apparatus, said gate comprising a film sprocket 29 having a set of upper pressurero1lers 8l mounted on an arm 82- supported above the upper surface of the annular ring 5. i a The fi1m,'sprocket128 is driven by means of pinion 88 mounted on its spindle 84, said pinion being in mesh withone of the bevel gears l0 driving the adjacent conical roller 8, which en-' sures that the said sprocket 28 is driven in uni-= 60 son with the said rollers and at a constant speed in relation thereto, and as the. output, film sprocket It is also" geared to the rollers, it will be appreciated that the speed of the film during winding is maintained constant by virtue of the fact" m.are geared toi fi f ny type (t at is, or othe r- 65 that all the rotary gether. r

. wise) is removed from the spool at present em- 2 ployed and placedupon the conical rollers-with 70 the edge of the filmconvolutions engaging with the upper inclined surface of each roller 8;

The outerlayer of the mm, that is,-the"one and through the sprocket gate 28 and extended in a loop as illustrated in Figure 1 to provide for the extension of the film through the gate of the biograph machine for' projection, the return of said loop' from the projector gate extending across the flange 4 of the flanged disc 8 at the horizontal centre to pass through the sprocket gate 28 which feeds the said loop into the flanged disc 8 to be wound as will now be described.

With the film roll ,85 in position on the conical rollers 8 as illustrated in Figure 1 during or after projection, the film maybe wound in order to commence at the start of a program by means of setting in motion the gearing described through .the medium of a' prime mover or in conjunction with the biograph machine.

As previously described, the worm drive actuates the crown wheel 1 I through the worm wheel l4 which in turn drives the bevel gears ID to cause the inclined conical rollers 8 to rotate at a constant and uniform speed, while the output sprocket gate 20 and the feed-in sprocket gate- 28 are also driven in unison with said rollers 8 through the medium of the gearing described.

As the returned portion of thefilm llpasses through the feed-in sprocket gate 28, it is brought supporting disc 3 which thereby causes the film to be packed or wound against the inside of the film roll 35.

The inclination and rotation of the conical I011". em 8 causes theflfilm convolutions in each instance to take the correct position relative to one another and move in sequence on the said rollers to be packed or wound around the inside of the film roll and such arrangement maintains the film in close contact to obviate buckling and possible injury. A

By driving each conical roller 8 at the same speed and causing each layer of film to contact therewith on edge, the film layer is shaped in the manner of a convolution and frictionbetween the film layers is reduced to a minimum,

accordingly, during projectionthelouter layer of I the film is passed outwardly through the adjacent sprocket gate 28 tothe projector and then 'retumed on the flat through the feed-in gate 28 to be tumed on edge by the rotation of the conical rollers 8 and the inclination thereof ensures that eachincoming or return portion of thefilm is shaped into a convolution and packed or wound around the inside of the-film roll positioned on the conical rollers 8, the movement and winding being maintained in a continuous By the film winding apparatus described, the windingofthefilmspoolbetweeneachshowingzlsentirelyeliminatedantibyreturningtlie exhibited or projected'portion of the film to the Although onespractieai am we 'inventionintopracticaleflecthasbeendeccribed andillustrateditwillbe obviousthatimprove "ments and modifications may beembodiedin inventionsuch'nswiththegcaring,

w w departing from the spirit of.

l and inclined conical rollers supported by said disk and adapted tohave positioned thereon a film roll, the flange of said disk having a slot therein through which the outer layer of said film passes and means for returning said film with the flat surface thereof disposed in a plane at'right angles to the axis of-the film roll to the center of said film roll and said film being thereafter turned on edge by said rollers to be packed against the inside of the film roll in a continuous cycle. a 2. Anapparatus for winding films comprising a flanged disk, a plurality of radially arranged and inclined conical rollers supported within said disk, said disk having a slot in the flange thereof through which the outer layer of a film roll rating upon said rollers may pass, means for guiding the outer layer of said film away from said disk, means for driving said rollers synchronously at the same speed and means for guiding the return portion of the film directly above said rollers so as to engage with said rollers to have the film turn on-edge so that it may be' packed around the inside of the-film roll.

3. An apparatus for winding films comprising afianged disk, a plurality of radially arranged and inclined conical rollers supported by said disk adapted. to receive a fllm roll, the flange of said disk having a slot therein through which the outer layer of the film roll may pass, a sprocket adapted to receive said film as it leaves said slot and form a loop thereof for projecting purposes, means for driving said sprocket in unison with and at the same speed as said rollers, a second sprocket for receiving the return portion of said 40 loop and leading it in a plane at right angles totheaxisof thefihnrolltothecenterofthe said film roll so as to contact said conical rollers whereby the dim is turned on edge and packeda'gainsttheinsideofthefllmroll.

4'. an apparatus for winding'fllms comprising adiskhavingmiterandinnerconcentricflsnges. a plurality of conical rollers inclined upwardly towards the center of said flanged disk and said rollers having their bearings'disposed in said outer and inner flanges.

5. In apparatus for winding biograbh or like fllms,acasingintheformofaflangeddisk,a plurality of diametrically arranged rubber covered rollers supported within said casing to receive a dim roll, said rollers being conical and inclined outwardly with the base of the cones at the center of the disk, diametrically arranged spindles extending upwardly through the conical rollers, a bevel gear on the upper end of each spindle to mesh with a crown wheel, means to actuate said crown wheel from a prime mover, a peripheral slot in the flange of said disk, means adjacent to said slot to guide the outer layer of the fllm'roll in its e from theflanged disk to form. a loop for projection and means to guide the return portion of the film loop over and back onto the said rollers to the center of the film roll to be wound or packed continuously against the inside thereof by the rotation of the rollers.

6. In apparatus for winding biograplr or like fllmaacasingintheformofafiangeddisk, a plurality of inclined rubber covered conical rollers, said rollers being diametrically arranged and inclined downwardly and outwardly towards the periphery of the disk to carry a film roll on edge, means to rotate said rollers at a constant speed, a peripheral slot in the flange of the disk,

' a sprocket mounted adjacent to said slot to guide the outer layer of the film away from-the said disk to form a filmloop for projection, and a" sprocket mounted above the center of the disk -to direct the return portion oi. the loop back the same speed for the purposes specified.

ALBERT EDWARD SHIRIDW. THOMAS Baa-11m MODIARMID. 

